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My paper was recently cited but the text leading up to the citation has little to do with the content of my paper. They seem to reference some ideas I included in the "Future Work" section of my paper, but they are ideas that I never began to research, and the reference is a bit of a stretch. I'm not convinced they even read my paper.

Edit: As far as I can tell, the section where they cited me was basically a survey of techniques. The technique that they attributed to me has been around for longer than I've been alive. I just mentioned in my paper that the technique could be extended in a specific way. But they made no mention of my idea for the extension.

Should I do anything about this? Or should I just enjoy the citation?

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    I can't imagine that it would be worth your time to do anything about it, especially since there is very little that you could realistically do.
    – John Coleman
    Nov 14, 2019 at 0:07
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    Just enjoy the citation!
    – Wolfgang Bangerth
    Nov 14, 2019 at 2:06
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    Sometimes reading a paper causes, for whatever reason, something to 'click' in my head that may seem on the surface fairly unrelated. Perhaps this is one of those events, and they are giving you some appreciation.
    – Jon Custer
    Nov 14, 2019 at 13:59
  • @JonCuster As far as I can tell, the section where they cited me was basically a survey of techniques. The technique they attributed to me has been around longer than I've been alive. I just mentioned in my paper that the technique could be extended in a specific way. But they made no mention of my idea for the extension.
    – Justin
    Nov 14, 2019 at 17:52
  • I'm smelling the possibility of a future collaboration. Maybe it is worth contacting them. Folks with similar interests, potentially.
    – Buffy
    Nov 14, 2019 at 19:45

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If they are referencing ideas in your future work section then they are doing the right thing in not claiming credit for something that wasn't there idea. They should be congratulated for their honesty. Of course they could have been forced to put the reference in by a hostile reviewer. See many other articles on here about people being forced to add references they think are minimally relevant.

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